Systems and methods for generating media content using microtrends

ABSTRACT

In accordance with the present invention, a media generation application that allows a user to create and customize a commercial based on microtrend information and/or feedback information is provided.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 60/794,624, filed on Apr. 24, 2006, which is herebyincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of generating and customizingmedia content. More particularly, the present invention provides systemsand method for generating and customizing commercials using microtrendinformation and/or feedback information.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Media content, such as advertisements, commercials, and televisionprograms, is created with the goal of having the content viewed,listened to, or otherwise received by a target audience. The targetaudience could be, for example, the entire world, a single nation, aregion, a city, a neighborhood, or a specific individual. However,distributing the desired content and targeting it to the desiredaudience is a difficult process. It is often difficult to control whichconsumers receive a specific piece of media content. As a result, adistributor or creator of content generally provides that content to alarger or smaller area than desired.

For example, marketers and advertisers have come to rely on demographicsolutions to establish patterns and trends about the purchasing habitsof their target audience. Marketers and advertisers use the derivedinformation to generate observations relating to their markets, targetindividuals to different types of offerings, and select appropriatemedia purchases for advertising. In the case of video advertisingmedia—e.g., video tapes that are mailed, Internet video streams, orbroadcast or cable advertising, there are only limited means to producepersonalized versions of the advertisements or direct marketinginformation that directly takes advantage of information available aboutthe target audience. As such, even though companies know a tremendousamount of information about their target audience, the ability toleverage this information has been limited by the fundamentals of thebroadcast medium, thus requiring that a like message be sent to allcustomers.

In another example, a marketer and/or advertiser may create a generaladvertising campaign. When a parent company purchases the generalcampaign from the marketer and/or advertiser, the company generallyprovides the campaign to their field offices (e.g., a subsidiaryorganization) for distribution. Each field office typically hiresanother advertising agency to modify the advertisement based on, forexample, the respective market. This process of modifying theadvertisement is not only expensive, but the message that the modifiedadvertisement contains may veer from the general campaign that theparent organization desired. In addition, the changes that are mademight be made separately, and thus redundantly by the different fieldoffices. This is an expensive and ineffective method of creating anddistributing content.

Accordingly, there exists a need for systems and methods for contentmanagement that overcome these and other deficiencies in prior artsystems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention, systems and methods forgenerating and customizing commercials are provided. In particular,systems and methods that allow users to generate and customizecommercials using microtrend information and/or feedback information areprovided.

In some embodiments, the present invention allows a user to transmit tothe media generation application a commercial template and a pluralityof media segments for insertion into the commercial template. Thecommercial template includes a plurality of media slots that accommodateone or more of the plurality of media segments.

The media generation application receives, from an information source(e.g., a website, a linked website, a third party website, a cellularprovider, etc.), information relating to user interactions with theinformation source, information relating to activity on the informationsource, and/or trend information relating to the information source. Insome embodiments, the media generation application may query theinformation source for such information. Alternatively, the mediageneration application may analyze the information from the informationsource and other information sources to determine trend information.

In response to receiving microtrend information, the media generationapplication selects one or more media segments based on the receivedinformation. The media content management application may instruct anediting/assembly mechanism to assemble a completed commercial (e.g., athirty-second spot), where the selected media segments are inserted intothe media slots of the commercial template. The assembled commercial ispresented to an audience.

In some embodiments, the media generation application receives feedbackrelating to the completed commercial from the information source. Inresponse to receiving the feedback, the media content managementapplication may update the assembled commercial by inserting differentmedia segments into the commercial template.

In some embodiments, the media generation application createsconstruction rules based on the received feedback.

In some embodiments, the media generation application receivesmicrotrend information from a plurality of information sources. Inresponse, the media generation application analyzes the microtrendinformation and generates or updates a commercial based on the analysis.

Thus, there has been outlined, rather broadly, the more importantfeatures of the invention in order that the detailed description thereofthat follows may be better understood, and in order that the presentcontribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course,additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafterand which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.

In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of theinvention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited in its application to the details of construction and to thearrangements of the components set forth in the following description orillustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of otherembodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways.Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminologyemployed herein are for the purpose of description and should not beregarded as limiting.

As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception,upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basisfor the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carryingout the several purposes of the present invention. It is important,therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalentconstructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope ofthe present invention.

These together with other objects of the invention, along with thevarious features of novelty which characterize the invention, arepointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming apart of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention,its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses,reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptionmatter in which there is illustrated preferred embodiments of theinvention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various objects, features, and advantages of the present invention canbe more fully appreciated with reference to the following detaileddescription of the invention when considered in connection with thefollowing drawing, in which like reference numerals identify likeelements.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an illustrative media generation systemon which a media generation application may be implemented in accordancewith some embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an illustrative workstation and serveras provided, for example, in FIG. 1 in accordance with some embodimentsof the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a simplified flowchart illustrating the steps performed inproviding a media generation application that generates and/or updatescommercials based on microtrend and/or feedback information inaccordance with some embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an illustrative message template that may be provided inaccordance with some embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an illustrative schematic of the contents of a media databasethat may be provided in accordance with some embodiments of the presentinvention. in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a simplified flowchart illustrating the steps performed inupdating commercials based on feedback information in accordance withsome embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a simplified flowchart illustrating the steps performed inanalyzing microtrend and/or feedback information in accordance with someembodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following description includes many specific details. The inclusionof such details is for the purpose of illustration only and should notbe understood to limit the invention. Moreover, certain features whichare well known in the art are not described in detail in order to avoidcomplication of the subject matter of the present invention. Inaddition, it will be understood that features in one embodiment may becombined with features in other embodiments of the invention.

In accordance with the present invention, systems and methods forgenerating and customizing commercials (hereinafter “the mediageneration application” or “the application”) are provided. Inparticular, systems and methods that customize and generate commercialsand other media content using microtrend information and feedbackinformation from information sources are provided. Users of the mediageneration application may include, for example, advertisers, marketers,users at a corporate headquarters, users at a field office, users at asubsidiary of a parent company, a cable operator, a service provider, acontent provider, a multiple cable system operator (MSO), etc.

As used herein, microtrend information may include user interactioninformation or activity information on a particular website (e.g.,Dell.com, NYTimes.com, Google.com, etc.), activity information oncellular telephones (e.g., the number of users downloading a particularapplication, location information), or any other suitable feedback froman information source. An information source may include, for example, awebsite, a cellular provider, a set-top box, etc.

In accordance with the present invention, the media generationapplication may query an information source for microtrend information.In response to receiving a response to the query from the informationsource, the application may use the received microtrend information togenerate a customized commercial and/or update a previously createdcommercial with different media segments.

It should be noted that media segments may include, for example,portions of audio, portions of video, background audio, voiceovers,images, animations, graphics, etc.). The media segments are insertedinto the media slots of a commercial template. These media segments maybe received from the user, such as an advertiser. For example, anadvertiser that has been hired to create a commercial may generatemultiple media segments and upload the media segments to a specialpurpose database that is in communications with the media generationapplication (e.g., an object oriented database that stores a pluralityof media segments). In another example, an information source, such as awebsite, may upload media segments relating to the information source(e.g., media segments relating to products sold on the website, newproduct descriptions, new product graphics, inventory information,etc.).

The media generation application uses the received microtrendinformation to select the appropriate media segments to generate acustomized commercial and/or update a previously created commercial.

In some embodiments, the media generation application may receivefeedback from the information source. The feedback may include, forexample, feedback that the information has received from an audiencemember, information on the responsiveness or effectiveness of acommercial or media content, status updates from the information source(e.g., prevent commercials that are currently broadcast that relate to aparticular deal on Dell printers because Dell is running out ofprinters, prevent commercials for a particular politician relating to aparticular topic upon receiving feedback on that topic, etc.). Inresponse to receiving the feedback, the media generation application mayassociate the feedback with the commercial campaign and store thefeedback in the database. In some embodiments, the media generationapplication may develop or update construction rules based on thereceived feedback. For example, in response to receiving informationthat Ford is running low on a particular car model, the media generationapplication may develop construction rules that push commercials andother media content on other cars. In another example, in response toreceiving information that Ford is running low on a particular carmodel, the media generation application may develop construction rulesthat add a media segment to the currently broadcast commercial thatinforms the viewers when the particular car model is back in stock.

It should be noted that although the following embodiments of theinvention are described as relating to the generation and customizationof commercials, these embodiments are not limited only to commercials.Rather, the invention may also be applied to any suitable media content,such as advertisements, television programs, videos, etc.

In some embodiments, the media generation application may work inconjunction with a third-party website, where the application receivesmicrotrend and feedback information from the third-party website or theassociated web server. For example, an advertiser using the applicationmay have an established relationship with NYTimes.com (a third-partywebsite) such that the application automatically receives microtrendinformation from NYTimes.com (e.g., top articles e-mailed to others, toparticles viewed by visitors to NYTimes.com, most popular advertisementson NYTimes.com, etc.). In response to receiving the microtrendinformation from NYTimes.com, the application may generate commercialsfor a client (e.g., for a particular politician, for an electroniccommerce website, etc.), where media segments are selected based on themicrotrend information.

The following figures and appendices and their accompanying descriptionsprovide detailed examples of the implementation of the systems andmethods of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a generalized schematic diagram of an illustrative mediageneration system 100 on which a media generation application may beimplemented in accordance with some embodiments of the presentinvention. As illustrated, system 100 may include one or moreworkstations 102. Workstations 102 may be local to each other or remotefrom each other. Workstations 102 are connected by one or morecommunications links 104 to a communications network 106 that is linkedvia a communications link 108 to a server 110.

System 100 may include one or more servers 110. Server 110 may be anysuitable server for providing access to the media generationapplication, such as a processor, a computer, a data processing device,or a combination of such devices. Communications network 106 may be anysuitable computer network including the Internet, an intranet, awide-area network (“WAN”), a local-area network (“LAN”), a wirelessnetwork, a digital subscriber line (“DSL”) network, a frame relaynetwork, an asynchronous transfer mode (“ATM”) network, a virtualprivate network (“VPN”), or any combination of any of such networks.Communications links 104 and 108 may be any communications linkssuitable for communicating data between workstations 102 and server 110,such as network links, dial-up links, wireless links, hard-wired links,any other suitable communications links, or a combination of such links.Workstations 102 enable a user to access features of the mediageneration application. Workstations 102 may be personal computers,laptop computers, mainframe computers, dumb terminals, data displays,Internet browsers, personal digital assistants (“PDAs”), two-way pagers,wireless terminals, portable telephones, any other suitable accessdevice, or any combination of such devices. Workstations 102 and server110 may be located at any suitable location. In one embodiment,workstations 102 and server 110 may be located within an organization.Alternatively, workstations 102 and server 110 may be distributedbetween multiple organizations.

In some embodiments, server 110 may be in communications with adatabase. For example, server 110 may communicate with anobject-oriented database that stores media segments, assembledcommercials, feedback information, microtrend information, etc. Thedatabase may be untethered to the media generation application, a cableoperator, a headend, a network provider, and/or any other suitableentity. The media generation application may access the database toretrieve media segments for assembling a commercial.

It should be noted that these media segments may be stored on highcapacity, high speed servers, databases, or any suitable storage devicecapable of delivering these media segments in “real time” or “near realtime” for production and assembly on the fly.

The server and one of the workstations, which are depicted in FIG. 1,are illustrated in more detail in FIG. 2. Referring to FIG. 2,workstation 102 may include processor 202, display 204, input device206, and memory 208, which may be interconnected. In a preferredembodiment, memory 208 contains a storage device for storing aworkstation program for controlling processor 202.

Processor 202 uses the workstation program to present on display 204 theapplication and the data received through communications link 104 andcommands and values transmitted by a user of workstation 102. It shouldalso be noted that data received through communications link 104 or anyother communications links may be received from any suitable source,such as WebServices. Input device 206 may be a computer keyboard, acursor-controller, dial, switchbank, lever, or any other suitable inputdevice as would be used by a designer of input systems or processcontrol systems.

Server 110 may include processor 220, display 222, input device 224, andmemory 226, which may be interconnected. In a preferred embodiment,memory 226 contains a storage device for storing data received throughcommunications link 108 or through other links, and also receivescommands and values transmitted by one or more users. The storage devicefurther contains a server program for controlling processor 220.

In some embodiments, the media generation application may include anapplication program interface (not shown), or alternatively, theapplication may be resident in the memory of workstation 102 or server110. In another suitable embodiment, the only distribution toworkstation 102 may be a graphical user interface (“GUI”) which allows auser to interact with the media generation application resident at, forexample, server 110.

In one particular embodiment, the media generation application mayinclude client-side software, hardware, or both. For example, theapplication may encompass one or more Web-pages or Web-page portions(e.g., via any suitable encoding, such as HyperText Markup Language(“HTML”), Dynamic HyperText Markup Language (“DHTML”), Extensible MarkupLanguage (“XML”), JavaServer Pages (“JSP”), Active Server Pages (“ASP”),Cold Fusion, or any other suitable approaches).

Although the media generation application is described herein as beingimplemented on a workstation and/or server, this is only illustrative.The application may be implemented on any suitable platform (e.g., apersonal computer (“PC”), a mainframe computer, a dumb terminal, a datadisplay, a two-way pager, a wireless terminal, a portable telephone, aportable computer, a palmtop computer, an H/PC, an automobile PC, alaptop computer, a personal digital assistant (“PDA”), a combinedcellular phone and PDA, etc.) to provide such features.

It will also be understood that the detailed description herein may bepresented in terms of program procedures executed on a computer ornetwork of computers. These procedural descriptions and representationsare the means used by those skilled in the art to most effectivelyconvey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art.

A procedure is here, and generally, conceived to be a self-consistentsequence of steps leading to a desired result. These steps are thoserequiring physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, thoughnot necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical ormagnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined,compared and otherwise manipulated. It proves convenient at times,principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to these signals asbits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or thelike. It should be noted, however, that all of these and similar termsare to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and aremerely convenient labels applied to these quantities.

Further, the manipulations performed are often referred to in terms,such as adding or comparing, which are commonly associated with mentaloperations performed by a human operator. No such capability of a humanoperator is necessary, or desirable in most cases, in any of theoperations described herein which form part of the present invention;the operations are machine operations. Useful machines for performingthe operation of the present invention include general purpose digitalcomputers or similar devices.

The present invention also relates to apparatus for performing theseoperations. This apparatus may be specially constructed for the requiredpurpose or it may comprise a general purpose computer as selectivelyactivated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer.The procedures presented herein are not inherently related to aparticular computer or other apparatus. Various general purpose machinesmay be used with programs written in accordance with the teachingsherein, or it may prove more convenient to construct more specializedapparatus to perform the required method steps. The required structurefor a variety of these machines will appear from the description given.

The system according to the invention may include a general purposecomputer, or a specially programmed special purpose computer. The usermay interact with the system via e.g., a personal computer or over PDA,e.g., the Internet, an Intranet, etc. Either of these may be implementedas a distributed computer system rather than a single computer.Similarly, the communications link may be a dedicated link, a modem overa POTS line, the Internet and/or any other method of communicatingbetween computers and/or users. Moreover, the processing could becontrolled by a software program on one or more computer systems orprocessors, or could even be partially or wholly implemented inhardware.

Although a single computer may be used, the system according to one ormore embodiments of the invention is optionally suitably equipped with amultitude or combination of processors or storage devices. For example,the computer may be replaced by, or combined with, any suitableprocessing system operative in accordance with the concepts ofembodiments of the present invention, including sophisticatedcalculators, hand held, laptop/notebook, mini, mainframe and supercomputers, as well as processing system network combinations of thesame. Further, portions of the system may be provided in any appropriateelectronic format, including, for example, provided over a communicationline as electronic signals, provided on CD and/or DVD, provided onoptical disk memory, etc.

Any presently available or future developed computer software languageand/or hardware components can be employed in such embodiments of thepresent invention. For example, at least some of the functionalitymentioned above could be implemented using Visual Basic, C, C++ or anyassembly language appropriate in view of the processor being used. Itcould also be written in an object oriented and/or interpretiveenvironment such as Java and transported to multiple destinations tovarious users.

Turning to FIG. 3, a simplified flowchart illustrating the stepsperformed in receiving microtrend information and generating commercialsin accordance with some embodiments of the present invention isprovided. This is a generalized flow chart. It will be understood thatthe steps shown in FIG. 3 may be performed in any suitable order, somesteps may be deleted, and others added.

As shown in FIG. 3, the process begins with allowing an advertiser toupload a commercial template, multiple media segments, and any otherinformation relating to a particular commercial campaign at step 310.The commercial template, multiple media segments, and additionalinformation may be stored in a database, such as the above-mentionedobject-oriented database. The database may be organized by eachcommercial campaign. The database may also associate metadata tags witheach piece of received data and organize the database using the metadatatags.

For example, an advertiser may be hired to create and produce one ormore commercials for a particular politician. The advertiser may createa number of media segments (e.g., video clips, audio clips, graphics,background music, etc.) that relate to the particular politician, suchas media segments on particular topics for the politician, a theme songfor the politician, multiple images of the politician, etc. Theadvertiser may, using the media generation application, upload the mediasegments and additional information to the database. These mediasegments may be inserted into media slots in a commercial template.

It should be noted that media segments may have metadata associated withthem in terms of relative or absolute fit with one or more semanticcriteria. For example, in response to a price change, the mediageneration application (or an editing/assembly software package that isaccessed by the application) may retrieve one or more different piecesof corresponding video segments and one or more different pieces ofcorresponding audio segments with rules on placement, synchronization ofaudio with video, and a change in the background music track. In anotherexample, each media segment may have one or more metadata tagsassociated with it and the editing/assembly software package mayretrieve media segments having the corresponding metadatacharacteristics. The metadata may affect how media content is sequenced,the primary audio segments and how it is married to the video segments,the background audio track and how it is married to the video segments,etc.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show an illustrative message template 400 and the contents500 of a database that may be provided in accordance with someembodiments of the present invention. The message template 400 describesa framework to create and assemble media content for the targetaudience. The message template may include sequences 420, such asinsertable sequences (e.g., insertable audio and/or video mediasegments) and/or predefined sequences. For example, predefined sequencesmay be inserted into the message template 400 that do not vary betweendifferent versions of the media content. In addition, the messagetemplate 400 may include rules for selection and combination of mediasegments and other resources to generate the media content.

It should be noted that the message template of the present invention400 is not limited to orthogonal assembling of media segments. One ormore elements of the media content are capable of being controlled andcombined using various approaches to provide customized media content.For example, a background scene, such as a geographic landscape, isselected from one database and used as a common background throughoutthe playback of the media content, while insertable video segments areadded to the media content at certain positions.

The design of the message template may be determined using informationfrom the campaign, information from the default message (e.g.,non-customized media content), etc.

Additional features for creating personalized messages based on userinformation are described in, for example, commonly-owned,commonly-assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/545,524, filedApr. 7, 2000, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety.

Referring back to FIG. 3, the application may transmit a query to one ormore information sources for microtrend information at step 320.Microtrend information may include, for example, user interactioninformation or activity information on a particular website (e.g.,Dell.com, NYTimes.com, Google.com, etc.), activity information oncellular telephones (e.g., the number of users downloading a particularapplication, location information), or any other suitable feedback froman information source. An information source may include, for example, awebsite, a cellular provider, a set-top box, etc.

For example, the application may transmit a query to the Dell.comwebsite for updated product information that includes new productinformation, new product graphics, new product videos, etc. In anotherexample, the application may transmit a query to the Dell.com websitefor inventory information on Dell.com products. In yet another example,the application may transmit a query to the Dell.com website todetermine the most popular Dell.com products.

In another suitable example, an advertiser is using the media generationapplication to generate a commercial for a particular politician.However, the advertiser may be unaware of the particular concerns in aparticular demographic or a particular area. To generate the commercial,the advertiser may direct the media generation application to querywebsites and other information sources that have an establishedrelationship with the politician—e.g., NYTimes.com, the politician'spersonal website, a local party website, a news television stationwebsite, etc. The query to NYTimes.com may include, for example, arequest for information on the articles most frequently e-mailed byNYTimes.com readers, NYTimes.com articles most frequently linked to bybloggers on the Web, keywords most frequently searched by NYTimes.comreaders, the most popular movies among NYTimes.com readers. The query toa news television station website may include, for example, a requestfor the results on the latest survey posted on the website relating topolitical issues.

The information source may also be, for example, a cellular provider.For example, the application may transmit a query to the cellularprovider to determine the most popular applications downloaded from thecellular provider. In another example, the application may transmit aquery to the cellular provider to receive information about users'geographic locations.

It should be noted that the media generation application may receivemicrotrend information from any suitable information source (e.g., aparticular website, a particular set-top box, a particular cellularphone, a particular computer, a particular computer network, aparticular telephone network, etc.).

The media generation application may receive a response to the one ormore queries from the information source that includes the microtrendinformation at step 330. The received microtrend information isassociated with the particular commercial campaign. The media generationapplication may associate the received microtrend information with thecommercial template and multiple media segments and store the microtrendinformation in a database, such as the above-mentioned object-orienteddatabase.

At step 340, the media generation application may construct one or morecommercials based on the received microtrend information. For example,the microtrend information may inform the media generation applicationthat the most e-mailed articles on NYTimes.com generally relate tohealthcare. In response, the media generation application for theadvertiser creating commercials for the particular politician mayretrieve one or more media segments from the database relating tohealthcare.

In some embodiments, the media generation application may search throughthe database for media segments having the metadata tag “healthcare”associated with it. It should be noted that the database may beorganized using any suitable approach. For example, media segment data,microtrend information, feedback information, and other data stored inthe database along with the commercial campaign may be used in theanalysis of microtrend and feedback information. The data in thedatabase may be broken down into components, such as the number of usersin the audience and the cost of using the media segment. The user datamay be further broken down into user demographic data, demonstratingwhat types of users make up the audience. Such demographics may include,for example, geographic information, sex, age, or any other suitabledemographic or psychographic information.

In another example, the media generation application may receivemicrotrend information from the Dell.com website that reveals thatprinter inventory is low. In response, the media generation applicationfor the advertiser creating commercials or other media content forDell.com may retrieve one or more media segments relating to differentdeals that do not involve printers.

It should be noted that, to construct one or more commercials, the mediageneration application may instruct an editing/assembly mechanism toretrieve the corresponding media segments from the database or otherstorage device and insert the retrieved media segments into thecommercial template, thereby generating a completed version of acommercial. The editing/assembly mechanism may include professionalediting/assembly software, such as editing software developed by AvidTechnology, Inc., Final Cut Pro developed by Apple Computer Inc.,intelliSpot or other assembly software developed by Visible World, etc.That is, in response to receiving microtrend information, the mediageneration application may use one or more of these editing/assemblymechanisms or transmit the information to another user that hasknowledge of these editing/assembly mechanisms to create one or morecommercials having the selected media segments.

Using this application, the user may receive a finished version of thecommercial. The commercial may be transmitted to a delivery point thattransmits and presents the commercial to an audience at step 350.

In some embodiments, the media generation application may also include afeedback mechanism (step 360). The feedback mechanism of the mediageneration application may receive feedback information from the one ormore information sources. The feedback may include, for example,feedback that the information has received from an audience member,information on the responsiveness or effectiveness of a commercial ormedia content, status updates from the information source (e.g., preventcommercials that are currently broadcast that relate to a particulardeal on Dell printers because Dell is running out of printers, preventcommercials for a particular politician relating to a particular topicupon receiving feedback on that topic, etc.). In response to receivingthe feedback, the media generation application may associate thefeedback with the commercial campaign and store the feedback in thedatabase. The media generation application may also retrieve differentmedia segments for insertion into the commercial template. The differentmedia segments may be used to update one or more commercials (step 340).

For example, the media generation application may receive real-timefeedback from the NYTimes.com website that the articles most frequentlye-mailed by NYTimes.com readers and the articles most frequently linkedto be bloggers on the Web has changed from gun control to abortion. Inresponse, the media generation application that is being used togenerate customized commercials for a particular politician may retrievemedia segments that are related to abortion. The media generationapplication may update the previously assembled commercial by insertingthe retrieved media segments relating to abortion into the commercialtemplate in place of the previously retrieved media segments relating togun control. As described previously, to update the commercial, themedia generation application may instruct an editing/assembly mechanismto retrieve the corresponding media segments from the database or otherstorage device and insert the retrieved media segments into thecommercial template.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrative the steps performing in updatingcommercials based on feedback information in accordance with someembodiments of the present invention. This is a generalized flow chart.It will be understood that the steps shown in FIG. 6 may be performed inany suitable order, some steps may be deleted, and others added.

In response to receiving feedback from one or more information sources(e.g., running low on inventory of a particular product, commercials ongun control are not advised, a price change of a particular product, anew incentive or deal, etc.) (step 610), the media generationapplication may transmit a query to the information sources for updatedmedia segments (e.g., new product graphics, new video segments, updatedvoiceovers to include a new deal) and/or updated information at step620. In response to receiving the updated media segments and/or updatedinformation (step 630), the media generation application may update thepreviously assembled commercial by inserting the retrieved mediasegments into the commercial template (step 640) and present the updatedcommercial to the audience (step 650). The media generation applicationmay replace previously retrieved media segments with the newly receivedmedia segments. Alternatively, the media generation application mayassemble a new version of the commercial using the newly received mediasegments. As described previously, to update the commercial, the mediageneration application may instruct an editing/assembly mechanism toretrieve the corresponding media segments from the database or otherstorage device and insert the retrieved media segments into thecommercial template.

In some embodiments, the media generation application may develop orupdate construction rules based on the received feedback (step 660). Forexample, in response to receiving information that Ford is running lowon a particular car model (e.g., Ford trucks), the media generationapplication may develop construction rules that push commercials andother media content on other cars (e.g., Ford sedans). The constructionrules associated with the commercial template may direct the mediageneration application to select media segments on cars that areavailable, such as the Ford sedans, until the media generationapplication receives feedback information that previously low inventoryor out-of-stock cars are available.

Alternatively, in response to receiving information that Ford is runninglow on a particular car model, the media generation application maydevelop construction rules that add a media segment to the currentlybroadcast commercial that informs the viewers when the particular carmodel is back in stock. In another example, in response to receivinginformation that Ford is running low on a particular car model, themedia generation application may provide the inventory information tothe audience through an updated commercial (e.g., “Hurry now, only 5left on the lot”).

In some embodiments, the media generation application may use thereceived feedback information (e.g., running low on inventory of aparticular product, commercials on gun control are not advised, a pricechange of a particular product, a new incentive or deal, etc.) toprovide the user with recommendations and assembly options. Therecommendation may include, for example, recommended media segments(e.g., a recommended actor/actress, a recommended voiceover, arecommended background, a recommended music track, recommended videoclips, recommended graphics, etc.). The recommendation may also include,for example, multiple selectable options for updating the previouslyassembled commercial—e.g., after assessing the media segments availablein the database, the media segments relating to gun control can bereplaced with media segments relating to abortion, education,healthcare, and/or foreign policy. In response to receiving a selectionfrom the user, the media generation application may retrieve theappropriate media segments and update the commercial.

Based on feedback received from the information source, the mediageneration application may adjust the media segments in the commercialprior to its next broadcast or after broadcast (e.g., pull thecommercial and insert a new version of that commercial, play thecommercial more frequently).

It should be noted that although the above-mentioned embodiments of theinvention are described as receiving microtrend information and/orconclusions on compiled data (e.g., the articles most frequently citedby bloggers on a particular website relates to education issues, theembodiments are not limited only to receiving such microtrendinformation. Rather, instead of receiving the analysis from theinformation source (e.g., NYTimes.com determines the most popular moviesbased on cumulative number of reviews read, movie details pages views,and trailers accessed), the invention may also receive, collect, andanalyze microtrend information from multiple information sources. Asshown in FIG. 7, the media generation application may collect microtrendinformation from multiple information sources (step 710) and analyze thecollected microtrend information (step 720).

For example, the media generation application may work in conjunctionwith a particular website (e.g., www.dell.com), a third-party website(e.g., via an agreement), and/or a linked website (e.g., the New YorkTimes website links to the Dell website). For example, an advertiserusing the application may have an established relationship withNYTimes.com (a third-party website) such that the applicationautomatically receives microtrend information from NYTimes.com (e.g.,top articles e-mailed to others, top articles viewed by visitors toNYTimes.com, most popular advertisements on NYTimes.com, etc.).

In another example, when the advertiser is generating a commercial for aparticular politician, the media generation application may receivemicrotrend information from both a news website, such as NYTimes.com,and the politician's personal website. The media generation applicationmay collect the microtrend information and, using expert rules ormodels, analyze the collected microtrend information. For example, themedia generation application may perform a keyword search or perform ametadata crawl through the microtrend information to index and/ordetermine the most prevalent keywords. In another example, each websitemay include a log of search activity (e.g., keyword searches, site mapsearches, etc.). The media generation application may retrieve the logof search activity for one or more information sources and analyze theone or more logs to determine microtrend information and which mediasegments to insert in a particular commercial template.

In another example, when the advertiser is generating a commercial forFord, the media generation application may review activity on theassociated website (e.g., www.ford.com). The media generationapplication may compile statistical information based on reviewing theactivity on the associated website. For example, in response todetermining that 80% of users accessing www.ford.com want to knowwhether a Ford F-150 truck is available in the color red and can befinanced. In response, the media generation application may retrievemedia segments and/or media information from the database relating tored Ford F-150 trucks and financing information for the automobile.

In some embodiments, the media generation application may monitor webcontent or receive information from the particular website regarding theweb content. In response, the media generation application may updatethe commercial based on the monitored web content. Monitoring users anddetermining that users review particular webpages, review particularsubjects or topics, fast-forward through portions of media content(e.g., advertisements), rewind portions of media content, replay mediacontent, pause media content during playback, stop the playback of mediacontent, replay or rewind media content multiple times, watch mediacontent for a particular length of time, link media content, send linksto media content to other users, write a blog about particular webcontent, or perform any other suitable action provides the mediageneration application with feedback for customizing and updatingcommercials.

Accordingly, the media generation application allows the user to receivemicrotrend information and feedback information from one or moreinformation sources and generate or customize commercials based on thatreceive information.

Although the embodiments described herein use web content to customizecommercials, any other suitable source of information may be used. Forexample, advertisements on cellular telephones may be used to obtaininformation about a particular demographic. In another example, anysuitable environment that is rich media enabled may be used (e.g., apersonal digital assistant that has Windows Media Player, a cellulartelephone that is capable of receiving streaming media, a video gameconsole that is capable of receiving streaming media, etc.).

As described hereinabove, the media generation application allows theuser to receive microtrend information and feedback information from oneor more information sources and generate or customize commercials basedon that receive information. One of ordinary skill would know how toutilize standard algorithms to implement the processes of the presentinvention based on the information provided in this application.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited in itsapplication to the details of construction and to the arrangements ofthe components set forth in the following description or illustrated inthe drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of beingpracticed and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understoodthat the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purposeof description and should not be regarded as limiting.

As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception,upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basisfor the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carryingout the several purposes of the present invention. It is important,therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalentconstructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope ofthe present invention.

Although the present invention has been described and illustrated in theforegoing exemplary embodiments, it is understood that the presentdisclosure has been made only by way of example, and that numerouschanges in the details of implementation of the invention may be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, which islimited only by the claims which follow.

1. A method of providing commercials to an intended audience, the methodcomprising: receiving, from a user, a commercial template and aplurality of media segments for insertion into the commercial template,wherein the commercial template includes a plurality of media slots thataccommodate one or more of the plurality of media segments; receiving,from an information source, at least one of: information relating touser interactions with the information source, information relating toactivity on the information source, and trend information relating tothe information source; selecting at least one media segment based onthe received information from the information source; instructing anassembly software package to assemble a commercial, wherein the selectedmedia segment is inserted into one or more of the media slots; andpresenting the assembled commercial to an audience.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising storing the received commercial template andthe plurality of media segments into a database.
 3. The method of claim1, further comprising allowing the user to upload at least one of thecommercial template and the plurality of media segments into a database.4. The method of claim 1, wherein the information source is one of: awebsite, a linked website, a third party website, and a cellularprovider.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the received informationfrom the information source comprises microtrend information.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising transmitting a query to theinformation source for the received information.
 7. The method of claim1, further comprising: associating the received information with atleast one of: the commercial template and the plurality of mediasegments; and storing the receiving information in a database.
 8. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising receiving feedback from theinformation source.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the feedbackfurther comprises information that a user of the information sourceperformed at least one of the following actions: reviewed content,fast-forwarded through content, rewound content, paused content, pausedcontent at a particular time, replayed content, played content for aparticular time, created a link to content, and sent a link to contentto another user.
 10. The method of claim 8, wherein the feedback furthercomprises inventory information.
 11. The method of claim 8, furthercomprising: selecting a different set of media segments from theplurality of media segments based on the received feedback; and updatingthe assembled commercial by inserting the different set of mediasegments into the commercial template.
 12. The method of claim 8,further comprising using the received feedback to present recommendationoptions to the user for assembling a different version of thecommercial, wherein the recommendation options include at least one of:recommended media segments, recommended assembled commercials, arecommended advertisement group, a recommended time slot, a recommendedtelevision program, a recommended demographic.
 13. The method of claim8, further comprising generating construction rules based on thereceived feedback.
 14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving, from each of a plurality of information sources, at least oneof: information relating to user interactions with the informationsource, information relating to activity on the information source, andtrend information relating to the information source; analyzing thereceived information from the plurality of information sources; andcustomizing the assembled commercial based on the analysis.
 15. Themethod of claim 14, wherein the analyzing further comprises: applying amodel to the received information, wherein the model comprises aplurality of calculations to simulate the changes to the assembledcommercial; and providing the user with an indication of an impact onthe assembled commercial based at least in part on the application ofthe model to the received information.
 16. The method of claim 1,further comprising: receiving an event from the information source,wherein the event is associated with updated media segments andinstructions for relating the currently selected media segments; andreplacing the selected media segments with the updated media segments.17. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving an event fromthe information source, wherein the event is associated with theassembled commercial; and transmitting a query to the information sourcefor at least one of: updated media segments, updated informationrelating to the assembled commercial, and updated information relatingto the media segments in the assembled commercial.
 18. A system forproviding commercials to an intended audience, the system comprising: aprocessor at least partially executing a media generation applicationthat is in communications with a database and is configured to: receivea commercial template and a plurality of media segments for insertioninto the commercial template, wherein the commercial template includes aplurality of media slots that accommodate one or more of the pluralityof media segments; receive, from an information source, at least one of:information relating to user interactions with the information source,information relating to activity on the information source, and trendinformation relating to the information source; select at least onemedia segment based on the received information from the informationsource; instruct an assembly software package to assemble a commercial,wherein the selected media segment are retrieved from the database andinserted into one or more of the media slots; and present the assembledcommercial to an audience.
 19. A system for providing commercials to anintended audience, the system comprising: means for receiving, from auser, a commercial template and a plurality of media segments forinsertion into the commercial template, wherein the commercial templateincludes a plurality of media slots that accommodate one or more of theplurality of media segments; means for receiving, from an informationsource, at least one of: information relating to user interactions withthe information source, information relating to activity on theinformation source, and trend information relating to the informationsource; means for selecting at least one media segment based on thereceived information from the information source; means for instructingan assembly software package to assemble a commercial, wherein theselected media segment is inserted into one or more of the media slots;and means for presenting the assembled commercial to an audience.